Sometimes you can’t do it all in-house. Digital marketing is more complex to design and execute than traditional tactics. Effective execution in this channel more often requires highly specialized knowledge and expertise rarely found inside the company. Yes, it can be beneficial to work with a third-party. Find a partner that appreciates what you do and that that can deliver solutions across a broad range of platforms and devices.

False. Sure, in the “dark ages” of digital (and at the pace of change, that was twelve months ago), there were few ways to measure the impact of digital on flesh and blood store sales, marketing professionals who know what they’re doing can now combine online and offline transactions, and other marketing data, to give you a great picture of what works and what doesn’t.

Myth 3: Vendor dating is better than vendor marriage.

You may want to play the field, but you know how tiring that can be. Many of the most effective marketers eschew scattering their investments across multiple companies and instead “get married.” “Partnering with one strategic solutions provider — thoroughly and over time — can help marketers be most effective,” says Eagle.

Myth 4: Digital is great at closing sales already in progress, but can’t create demand.

Thanks to advanced look-a-like modeling and individual-level analysis, digital can be an ideal vehicle for cost effectively creating demand.

Myth 5: Vendor pitches are all so similar – it’s too hard to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The constant use of digital buzzwords can — admittedly — make it difficult to differentiate between two different vendors. Cut to the chase and ask a precise set of critical questions. That not only makes finding the right partner easier, but it can help locate that special firm that’s a perfect fit.

Nope. Personalization is no longer a dream — it’s reality. There are hundreds of retailers leveraging data to individually calibrate virtually every aspect of their ads to drive greater recipient relevance.

Myth 7: Digital measurement is always imprecise.

You can get more precise measurement, but you’ll have to shift your focus from allocating credit for conversions to scientifically determining (via the data) what actually caused a conversion. It also requires a measurement approach that reflects all sales channels, not just online. Smart marketers know customers are working all channels, and that to really gauge what’s going on, they need to analyze all of them.

“The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and it’s crucial that digital marketers periodically re-evaluate their thinking to stay cutting edge and effective,” said Eagle. “Eliminating myths from their thinking will push digital marketers to improve digital marketing effectiveness for their businesses.”